Prosecutors decided not to press charges against a man who accidentally seriously injured another man when protecting a woman from violence, the Fuzhou Public Security Bureau said on their official Weibo account on Thursday.

Zhao, from north China's Heilongjiang Province, worked as a security guard at a real estate agency in Fuzhou, capital of southeast China's Fujian Province. He found a female neighbor living downstairs being beaten by a man and tried to stop the man on the night of December 26.

As the police report indicated, a 50-year-old contractor, surnamed Li, and a 27-year-old entertainment service worker, surnamed Zou, met several times following their initial meeting in October last year.

Both of them had drinks that night. Li kicked the door open and had a physical confrontation with Zou after quarrelling with her and being kept out from her room, police said.

Li delivered two blows to Zhao after they stood up from a fall. Zhao returned another two blows to Li, pushed him to the ground and kicked his abdomen. Zhao was stopped by Zou when he tried to throw a stool and Zhao was persuaded to leave the room by his girlfriend. Police arrived at the scene after they received reports at 12:08am on December 27.

Zhao posted on Weibo for help after he was detained for the crime of intentional injury and then transferred to the procuratorate for prosecution.

Li suffered a serious injury to his abdomen and had to undergo surgery on December 27 — he was discharged from hospital on January 12.